Ferranti Orion Computer System, 1960
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IUIIL bUVUI IIIu~Lrallull The Great Nebula in Orion photographed through a telescope. The soft greenish hue of the ionized gas gradually dimming toward the edge of the field, with its immobile shadings smooth and mellow in spots, hard and sharp elsewhere, together with the diamond-like scintillations of the four closely packed stars of the Trapezium, present a striking picture. Scientific Services. In0.. Commercial Trust Building Fifteenth and Market Streets philadelphia 2, Fennsylvania Locust 3-3277 The Computer System Page 2 Introduction 4 Input 6 Output 8 Layout of data 12 Data transfers 14 How Orion uses time 16 How Orion decides whaf to do next 18 The form of instructions 20 Advantages of using Orion NOVEMBER 1960 Printed in Enntand PI H LIST DC. 4lA @ Ferranti Ltd. 1960 I Introduclrrg the FERRANTI ORION compueer sysfdm The ORION system enables a business to introduce automation of its procedures by stages, until eventually every aspect of its opera- tions has been brought under an integrated system of control. The principal features of ORION which enable it to be used in this way are: An extremely fast magnetic tape system, operating at 90,000 characters per second. With this tape system large files of business data can be processed at the speeds required. A complete time-sharing system enabling the computer to make the best use of a number of input and output devices operating at widely differing speeds with time-sharing card-to-tape and tape-to- card conversion and tape-printing can be carried out economically without recourse to additional off-line equipment. The time-sharing incorporates full program protection, preventing mutual interference of programs under any circumstance. Magnetic core storage extendable from 4,096 words to 16,384 words is available. Additional storage or peripheral equipment may be fitted at any time after installation. Direct transference of data from peripheral equipment to any part of the core store is provided, thus virtually eliminating costly and clumsy buffer storage. Special facilities are included for handling all types of commercial data from all currently available media, for printing results at high speed, and for dealing with the resulting paper. *A mass printer uses xerography to produce output at prin fing-press speeds **A fransacfor is a hand-fed card reader which can sense a pencil-marked card, interrogafe a compufer, and produce an edge-punched reply Punched Cards to latest available Punched Card readers (Tu* * of a// types. .) to remote Ferranti Transactors Marked Cards 1 4. .. Wfh edge-punched reply. to Ferranfi TR7, TR5 7-channel readers ) at 1000 and 300 characters per second. Creed Tape * to Ferranti TR7, TR5 5-channel readers b at 1000 and 300 characters per second. Magnetic Tape to Ampex FR 300 tape decks, ') operating at an instantaneous transfer rate of 90,000 characters per second. For all types of data arising on punched cards, punched in any way, according to any coding system, with provision for interstage reading, alphabetical punching and all types of over- punching. For interrogating the computer from an out-station, a sales office or a factory floor, by inserting a marked card into the transactor and obtaining an edge-punched reply. For Sales Order, Job Card, Goods Received data arising as a by-product of Flexowriter document preparation, and for preparing programs. Full range of alphanumeric upper and lower case characters with parity check. For data arising as a by-product of keyboard accounting machine operations such as ledger-posting or pre-listing, and for information received by Telex. For input of file data in the extremely short time of 89 microseconds per word - equivalent to about 45,000 punched cards per minute. The magnetic tape may be read in either direction. OUTPUT Sales Costs Profits om Line Printers of the fastest available punched-card types, computer driven. ' L' 111 ".. .a -.,. ,,a, 8 0 , a , , from Rank Xeronic Printer af 3000 lines per minute. Mass Printing Output is taken up on rolls as in a printing press, and I subsequently cut and stacked as required. Stacked Mass Printing from latest available punched card punches of all types. from tape control fo Ampex FR 300 Tape Decks at an instantaneous transfer rate of 90,000 characters per second. from Creed 3000 punch at 300 characters per second. .. 'I For medium volumes of results presented in the same form as conventional punched card tabulations, with very flexible layout, full range of upper case alphabetical characters, and i multiple carbon copies. Such tabulations will be used for internal factory and office control. I I For large volumes of results the Rank Xeronic printer provides the equivalent of a high speed printing press under computer control, with complete flexibility of layout and a wide range of typescript, including upper and lower case lettering in a variety of founts. Printing at this speed is needed for large scale despatching, invoicing, and purchase ordering operations. For information for the office or shop floor, interpreted punched cards provide a convenient unit document. I For carry forward file data for re-input next time, the iYe is processed at 89 microseconds per word, equivalent to about 45,000 punched card equivalents per minute. I For printing off-line on Creed or Flexowriter page printers with sprocket-fed stationery, and for Telex transmission. ~ w , .._ I For monitoring information put out by the Organisation Programme during operation. Layout of data The store of ORION holds words of 48 binary digits representing either alphanumeric words of eight 6-binary-digit characters, or numbers equivalent to 14 decimal-digit integers. Special facilities are included in ORION for rapid conversion of sterling, decimal, or other radix numbers in character form, to the equivalent binary numbers, and vice versa. These facilities enable the whole contents of a punched card, read at the highest available speeds, to be converted in less than 10 % of the card reading time. Twelve tracks are used for recording data on 1-inch Ampex tape which may be written forwards, or read backwards or forwards at an instantaneous rate of 90,000 characters per second, i.e. 89 micro- seconds per word. Blocks on tape are of arbitrary length and will normally be long compared with record lengths. In a typical case, 250-word blocks might be used for records of average length 10 words. These records could be read or written at 45,000 records per minute, corresponding to 33 milliseconds per block made up as follows :- 25 records x 10 words x 89 microseconds=23 milliseconds stoplstart time for block =10 milliseconds 33 milliseconds An ORION word can store any of the following: 8 alphanumeric characters 8 groups of 6 binary digits FERRANTI .a,.. decimal number up fo =247- 1 as a 48-digit binary number 140737488355327 ................................................ Floafing-point number up to &bit 40-bit signed fraction exponent about ........................................I........ =247-1 pence as a 48-digit binary number .'.-..."...."....,...... ...................... or several such items packed in one word product codelquantity in tons/YaCW ie? f&d..n. .......................I .I ..................... Layout on Magnetic Tape one word Write forwards ,Read backwards 0. forwards 4....., Layout of 25 records of average length 10 words on a 250 word block record I record 2 ...................................................... -record 25 check sum1 end-of-block marker Representation of dafa on a punched card. disciplined punching undisciplined punching I I * - 111111 111111 Y 6 -Letter F as &bit character - Undisciplined column as two Cbit characters : The FerrantC ORBON computer system I When Orion uses a peripheral device for the input or output of data the transfer proceeds, and meanwhile the computer is able to con- tinue with other work until the peripheral device requires access to a word in the core store. Then the computer "hesitates" for 16 microseconds (maybe half way through an instruction) to allow the word to be transferred. The computer then continues with its work from where it had left off. The diagram shows simultaneous reading from one tape deck, writing on another, and operation of an (inde- pendent) program. Thus, even when transferring to and from magnetic tape, more than 80 %of the full speed of the computer is available for other work. Lockouts are provided as shown, to prevent the program from interfering with a transfer once it has begun. Transfers of data may take place to or from any part of the store, and are of the general form: transfer Y words starting at X. All transfers are fully checked, with built-in check-sums on mag- netic tape, and checked for both reading and punching of cards. Simultaneous reading and writing and program operation TIME Reading from Magnetic Tape Deck 'A' Core store in use for a transfer Writing to Magnetic Tape Deck 'B' Program working independently -+ Transfer does not and only cause hesitation 'hesitating' when here because if needs the core program is not store at the same referring to time as it is core store at needed for this time a transfer I ' 100 microseconds Lockout operation Working Store Lockoutf area of prevents program store reserved referring to device to program till transfer ended How ORION uses tlme The diagram opposite illustrates the way the time-sharing system operates in a simple case. It shows a few milliseconds in the history of two programs. In this case, two summaries are being prepared simultaneously. The first of these is a sales analysis formed from recorded quantities and values on punched cards. The second is a similar summary of costing data taken from magnetic tape. At the instant at which the period illustrated starts, the first of a series of sets of cost data is being read from magnetic tape while a sales analysis program is completing the analysis of a card read in previously.